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Leeds Health and Care One Workforce Strategy 2030

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Retention of staff, volunteers and trustees Contributing organisations
This online resource fully explains the whole HR process. However, if you are an experienced DPO and/or are looking for a very quick review of your HR documents, please email us at gyainfo@disabilityrightsuk.org to obtain a comprehensive pack of HR resources kindly supplied free of charge by Perspective HR. The pack contains recruitment, selection, induction, appraisals and probation documents, some of which have been bespoke written by Perspective HR for DPOs.
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For openness and to ensure equity and fairness within the recruitment process, DPOs should have some written Recruitment and Selection Guidelines. Some organisations call this their Recruitment Policy.This document explains the approach your DPO takes when recruiting their staff.

More information: For detailed, general guidance around how to manage the application and selection process, Recruitment Process Overview | Factsheets | CIPD

Example:
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It is important to be clear about what you need the person to do (Job Description-JD) as well as what skills you need them to bring to the organisation (Person Specification-PS). Remember to articulate your DPO values and organisational culture within those documents.
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Recruitment agencies and/or headhunting services can be helpful when recruiting for a CEO and other key senior roles, which are more challenging to recruit to, but ensure you are clear of the pricing structure, including any potential 'add-on' charges to avoid any unpleasant surprises!
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Once the closing date for applications has passed and all the applications have been received, the shortlisting process can take place to decide who to take forward to the next stage, which will usually be an interview.To ensure equity and reduce the possibility of a challenge through an employment tribunal, all applicants should be assessed only in relation to the requirements of the person specification using a shortlisting form.

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Have the necessary checks been undertaken, and that they are safe to work with your clients? Some Disabled people might be considered to fall within the category of 'vulnerable adults' so DBS check requirements must be always followed.
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Having successfully recruited some great staff, volunteers, and trustees, it is important to retain them within the organisation where possible. This section provides information and guidance for DPOs around the notion of retention and how it might be achieved within your organisation.

An effective induction programme is a significant step towards the delivery of high-quality support for Disabled people and can help to reduce staff turnover and increase long-term staff retention. Ensuring that new employees are adequately supported through a thorough induction and beyond reduces the risk of staff feeling out of their depth and helps new team members fit comfortably.
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Example: Living Options Devon staff give tips and hints for best practice. Information and reflections from a wheelchair user employed by Living Options Devon DPO about her experience as an employee and tips for creating an inclusive workforce.
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Workplace stress According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD):

More information: Activity Alliance has great resources to encourage a more active and healthy workforce. Activity Alliance | Disability Inclusion Sport
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Although it’s best to have an Absence Management Policy this is an article on the key outline info re need and approaches to managing absence from work

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Although it’s best to have an Absence Management Policy this is an article on the key outline info re need and approaches to managing absence from work

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1. News and events

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3. Why it's important to improve digital confidence for people working in social care

09 Nov 2023

5 min read

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Digital

Learning and development

Leadership

Skills for Care

As we launch our 'Improving digital confidence' campaign, our Head of Digital Skills, Claire Smout, discusses why digital confidence is so important for the adult social care workforce and what Skills for Care is doing to support digital skills in the sector.

The COVID-19 pandemic undoubtedly pushed the social care sector into using more digital technology, but it's important that we move forward from that and think more about how digital technology can support the social care sector now and in the long-term.

Digital can be overwhelming, and it can be difficult to even know where to start on your digital journey.

We know technology is a huge part of most people's everyday lives - and that includes people of all ages. As such, when people are then in a position where they're drawing on care and support, it's important to them that they still have access to the same everyday technology they're used to accessing.

This will become increasingly true moving forward as future generations for whom technology is so embedded in their lives access care and support.

As explained by our social care panellists in our 'I'm a technophobe, get me out of here - taking the fear out of digital for social care managers' webinar, ultimately the greater use of digital technology means greater personalisation of care and better outcomes for people who draw on care and support.

Digital social care records can support managers to analyse data on individuals within seconds, by producing reports and flagging potential deterioration in individuals' health. When considering how long this would take to achieve from paper records and opening those archive boxes, you can start to see how moving to a digital set up can really make a difference.

Employers must start this journey now for their businesses to survive and adapt to future needs. By breaking it down into manageable segments, implementing technology and software can be achieved by any adult social care employer, of any size.

Many people have asked me, why I'm so passionate about digital. Speaking from personal experience, my Nan who passed away quite a few years ago in her 90's was someone who enjoyed using the internet at home to research her family history and to Skype with loved ones who live around the world. When she moved from her own home into residential care, she didn't have access to the internet (and it was before 3G and 4G mobile data was available). This meant she couldn't keep as connected with loved ones and she lost those digital skills that she'd gained, and that part of her life that was important to her.

In the case of my Grandad, having access to digital technology allowed him to maintain his independence and stay in his own home. He had Retinitis Pigmentosa's, a genetic condition and was severely sight impaired. He was using assistive technology for years and years to support him living independently.

He was able to, for example, boil the kettle to make a drink, and he had a talking clock on his watch. He also had access to telecare and telehealth equipment. These small bits of assistive technology can make a huge difference to someone's life, and it's vital that people who provide care and support are aware of the positive impact these types of technology can have for people.

While these are my personal experiences, I do get contacted by people who are drawing on care and support and their families about their experiences of accessing technology in social care.

And there are lots of younger people accessing care and we know that younger people have technology deeply embedded in their lives - they need to be able to access and use this and that should be a part of their person-centred care.

One example I know of is of a young individual, who has a learning disability. They live at a supported living site and have a PlayStation console in their room. Their support worker is able to switch the console on and also provides troubleshooting support if something isn't working properly. The support worker went on holiday and no one else knew how to use the console, so the individual was unable to access this until the support worker returned. As the individual was unable to access the console, they presented with challenging behaviour during this time. This caused the individual a week of unnecessary distress. Following this, all staff at the site have since been trained on using the console.

We all come to work in the adult social care sector because we care about supporting others to be as independent as possible and as we move forward with technology, we have to accept that this will become part of our day-to-day role and appreciate the positive difference this can make to the people who draw on care and support.

How Skills for Care is supporting the sector with digital skills

We still have around 10% of organisations that aren't digitalised, meaning they're not using technology. At Skills for Care, we're working across a wide range of initiatives to support the social care sector with building digital skills and confidence.

A key part of this work is the Digitalisation in Social Care programme (DISC). This is a commitment from the Government to support the adult social care sector with funding to increase digital skills and ways of working - that could include investing in digital social care records or purchasing new technology.

To support this project Skills for Care is running three webinars.

I'm a technophobe, get me out of here - taking the fear out of digital for social care managers.

Change management - sharing lessons and learnings from managers leading digital change in their services.

I wish I knew then what I know now - sharing lessons and learnings from early adopters of digital approaches.

Our Digital Champions programme is also a key focus. As a registered manager or a nominated individual, you need to have allies within your organisation to support positive progress with digital ways of working, and digital champions can be that ally.

A digital champion will be a role staff members can take on in addition to their everyday role - you can think of it the same as a dignity champion or a dementia champion.

Our programme will train digital champions in how to be a champion in their organisation, provide them with a recognised certificate naming them as a digital champion, and provide them with the opportunity to be part of a network of digital champions.

We've run one session so far, which had over 50 attendees, and we have our next session planned for January.

The   Digital Skills Framework launched in May. This is a resource to support the adult social care workforce to develop their digital skills within the sector.

We're running eLearning modules which provide more information about the key areas covered within the framework in a bite-sized and engaging way. This will really help providers to be able to bring the framework to life and put it into action in their organisations.

As part of all this work, it's also really important for us to establish a baseline of what digital roles and digital skills in the adult social care sector look like. We're using our Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) to help us do this, by adding new options which allow employers to share data about the digital roles and skills in their organisation

This is vital in providing a clear picture of what digital transformation looks like from a workforce perspective in terms of training and roles, which can be used to influence decision-making by the Government and other stakeholders about where investment in digital within the sector is best-placed.

Beyond this, a key part of our current work is working with the learning provider workforce to ensure training providers feel confident and ready to be able to include digital in the current training provision that's offered.

This is linked to delivering the newly-developed Level 5 Digital Leadership Award.

And our Digital Leadership Programme, in conjunction with the National Care Forum (NCF) is now officially launched. This programme supports managers and leaders with building their own digital skills and confidence and developing their team.

This is just a snapshot of some of the key work we have ongoing at Skills for Care to support with digital skills.
More information about these projects and our other resources and support for digital skills can be found on our #DigitalConfidence spotlight: www.skillsforcare.org.uk/digitalconfidence.
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Why it's important to improve digital confidence for people working in social care

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As we launch our 'Improving digital confidence' campaign, our Head of Digital Skills, Claire Smout, discusses why digital confidence is so important for the adult social care workforce and what Skills for Care is doing to support digital skills in the sector.

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Training opportunities, from short e learning to full qualifications of all types

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Training opportunities, from short e learning to full qualifications of all types

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Choose from 50 employee benefits to increase staff retention based upon affordability and 'fit' with your organisation and its staff

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Choose from 50 employee benefits to increase staff retention based upon affordability and 'fit' with your organisation and its staff

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50 Employee Benefits To Increase Staff Retention | Startups.co.uk

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We outline some of the most appealing ways to support employees when you can’t afford to offer a salary increase this year.

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Use this page to learn how to set a salary structure and ensure you reward staff with fair and competitive pay.

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Developing policies and procedures from NCVO

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Developing policies and procedures from NCVO

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Use this page to check your voluntary organisation has the right policies and procedures in place to employ and manage staff. You can also use it as a guide when drafting new policies and procedures for this purpose.

Looking for guidance on developing policies or procedures for other purposes?

What are policies and procedures?

Policies are clear, simple statements that explain how your organisation intends to conduct its services, actions or business. They provide a set of guiding principles to help with decision making.

Policies don't need to be long or complicated - a few sentences may be all you need for some policy areas.

Procedures describe how each policy will be put into action in your organisation. Each procedure should outline:

who will do what

what steps they need to take

which forms or documents to use.

Procedures might just be a few bullet points or instructions. Sometimes they work well as forms, checklists, instructions or flowcharts.

Example policy and procedure document structure

Policy statement: A brief statement of your organisation's stance on the subject.

Scope: Who the policy applies to, and in what circumstances.

Any accompanying procedures: How the policy will work in practice.

Responsibilities under the policy: Responsibilities of those who will implement the policy.

Date: When the policy and procedure document was adopted or last reviewed.

Why they matter

Policies and their accompanying procedures help organisations to:

comply with the law and regulations

set out how things should be done and what is expected of people

achieve a consistent approach across the organisation

create transparency and accountability

limit risk.

Essential policies and procedures

The range and scope of the policies and procedures you need will depend on:

the size of your organisation

who your audience/beneficiaries are

how your staff members engage with them.

Example

Example

Playtime is a local support group for families with deaf children in Preston. Because many of their staff regularly engage with children, they have a clear safeguarding policy that's shared with all their new starters.

More than Cans, a food bank in Leicester, has less than 10 employees. They don't have the time or resource to develop lots of policies and procedures - they need to focus their efforts on getting food to people that need it. Because they're a small team, they've adopted a consistent approach with effective communication and a handful of formal policies and procedures.

As a minimum, all organisations should put in place the following.

Health and safety policy

If you have five employees or more, you're legally required to have a health and safety policy.

Sickness absence policy and procedure

You'll need to specify in writing what procedures employees need to follow when they're sick.

Annual leave procedure or arrangements

You should inform your employees in writing about booking and notification procedures for annual leave.

Grievance and disciplinary procedure

You should have a clear procedure in place that outlines how you handle grievances and disciplinary matters.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

You should have an equality and diversity policy, which includes the organisation's position on anti-discrimination and harassment of employees, volunteers and service users.

Data protection policy

Your data protection policy is the commitment you're making to protect data in accordance with the law. This includes data about staff and beneficiaries. Your procedures show how you're going to comply with the law. You could develop a specific data protection policy, or cover data protection in your other policies.

Safeguarding policy

Every voluntary sector organisation should have key documents that help it manage safeguarding well. They're particularly important if your organisation is a charity or if you work regularly with children or adults at risk.

Rules/code of conduct

You should share a simple set of rules, so staff are clear on what is and isn't acceptable when they're at work. The rules could cover things like:

making personal phone calls

confidentiality

accepting gifts

data protection

use of computers.

These rules may be included in your grievance and disciplinary procedure and code of conduct, as well as within individual policies.

Others to consider

It's also good practice to have the following in place - particularly if you have 30 or more employees. NCVO members can follow the links to access sample documents, guides and templates designed to help you write your own policies and procedures.

Human resources

Office management

Writing policies and procedures

If you're an NCVO member and are looking to develop policies and procedures for your organisation, you can use our sample and template policies and procedures as a starting point. Just be sure to adapt them for your circumstances.

You should also check the policies you adopt comply with the law and your organisation's governing document.

It's a good idea to label your policies and procedures as 'non-contractual.' This gives you the opportunity to update the policies without potentially breaching your employment contracts.

Involving the right people

Your policies and procedures are more likely to be accepted if you involve staff in their development. They'll be able to tell you how things work in practice, and where things could be improved. You can build these comments into your policies and procedures, where appropriate.

If you recognise trade unions, you should also consult with them. Depending on your union recognition agreement, you may be required to negotiate with the relevant union.

Consider whether any proposed new policy may make a significant change to the existing terms and conditions of employment of your staff. It if does, you'll need the agreement of your staff before you can make the change.

Creating a staff handbook

If you have lots of policies and procedures, you could collate them into a staff handbook. You could place your full policies in the handbook, or simply list them and link out to them, so staff know where to find them.

NCVO members can download our staff handbook template.

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Use this page to check your voluntary organisation has the right policies and procedures in place to employ and manage staff. You can also use it as a guide when drafting new policies and procedures for this purpose. Looking for guidance on developing policies or procedures for other purposes?

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Templates for 121 supervisions and appraisals from NCVO

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Templates for 121 supervisions and appraisals from NCVO

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Use this series of pages to help you support your team to maintain and improve their performance at work.

Regular one-to-ones and appraisals are key to managing performance effectively. This page shares tips to help you plan and run them well.

One-to-one meetings are regular check-ins between a manager an individual they line manage. They can help employees feel their work is noticed and valued - and can also help to keep work on track.

A one-to-one should focus on:

reviewing progress: what has gone well, and what has not gone so well

addressing any obstacles and or concerns

reviewing any planned learning and development

planning future objectives.

One-to-ones can be held at a frequency and duration that suits your organisation and the experience of the person you manage. For example, you may wish to meet fortnightly with a new employee and monthly with more experienced employees.

It's a good idea to keep a record of one-to-one meetings, to ensure both parties are clear on what is discussed and agreed. It can also help you follow up at the next meeting.

Download our editable one-to-one record template:

You may be familiar with annual appraisals and mid-year reviews.

But increasingly organisations are using a more agile approach to managing performance. This typically involves:

meeting yearly to review work done during the previous year and set short-term objectives for the next few months

using regular one-to-ones to review existing short-term objectives

setting a new short-term objective after each existing goal is achieved.

The thinking behind this approach is:

this more agile approach can reflect the changing needs of the organisation

the pace and momentum allow more opportunities for feedback and development

workload and performance challenges can be spotted and addressed more quickly

achieving more objectives, more frequently, is more motivational.

Download our editable appraisal form template:

Preparing for the appraisal meeting

Ahead of an annual appraisal meeting, read through the notes of the previous year's one-to-one meetings.

Summarise:

progress against the objectives set

training attended

learning and development achieved

feedback received from others

your observations on what has gone well and not so well.

It's a good idea to have copies of relevant documents with you during the appraisal, such as:

the individual's job description

one-to-one notes taken during the year

last year's appraisal form.

Think carefully about the areas in the appraisal form and make notes. Remember, these are your initial thoughts and you'll need to hear what the individual says first, before confirming your view about any area.

Prepare the room and ensure that you won't be interrupted. Try to make sure you're in a relaxed and open frame of mind - you could avoid accepting or arranging another meeting immediately beforehand, for example.

Give the individual at least a few days' notice of the meeting so they have the time to prepare too. Ask the employee to look at their previous appraisal form and one-to-one meeting notes, and to consider what they feel has gone well and not so well since the last appraisal.

Appraisal meeting format

A useful format for the meeting is the 'WASP' format:

Welcome

Welcome the person you manage and explain the format of the meeting. Try to create a relaxed atmosphere, so the individual doesn't feel you're trying to rush things to get to something more important.

If you already hold regular one-to-ones, where you're used to reviewing progress and giving feedback, the appraisal should feel like an extended one-to-one.

Ask

Ask the individual to give their views on:

their progress since the last appraisal meeting

how they think they're doing against their latest set of objectives.

You could ask them to consider what they think their main contribution has been to the work of the organisation.

If you're concerned about any aspect of their performance, they might be too. Give them time to share their concerns first.

Use phrases that encourage the individual to talk about their work, such as:

Tell me a bit more about that.

I can see that's a challenge, but what do you think might help?

What support do you think you need to become more familiar with that?

Avoid phrases which may discourage them from talking, such as:

It's quite easy when you get the hang of it, it won't take long.

If I were you...

You'll be ok, don't worry.

Everything's going fine.

Supply

Once you've given the individual full opportunity to talk, you can supply your comments.

Confirm anything you think went particularly well, explaining what the individual did that made things go well. This will help them replicate these steps in future.

Discuss the areas the individual's identified that could have gone better. If there are work performance problems, raise these now. Give specific examples of your concerns and try not to be judgemental.

Jointly consider the possible reasons for problems and consider how the situation could be improved in the future. Make clear:

how you want their performance to change

what good performance looks like.

You can also discuss:

whether they're clear about all the responsibilities of their role - you could use the job description as a basis for these discussions

if they feel that any aspects of their role should be changed

whether they feel there's adequate opportunity to discuss they're work with you

what they feel you could do to further assist them in their role

training and development activities they've undertaken since their last appraisal or one-to-one

any further need for training and development

whether they have skills and knowledge that your organisation could use and is not currently using.

Plan

The next stage of the meeting is to plan for the short and long term.

Jointly agree what follow-up actions should be taken, by whom and by when. You should also confirm any newly identified objectives for the weeks, months or year ahead (depending on the frequency of your objective check-ins).

Before you close the meeting, ask the individual if they have anything else they wish to raise. Thank the employee for their time and let them know:

that you'll write up the key points from the discussion

that you'll give them a copy to sign and keep, and a copy will be put on their personal file

when they can expect to receive the written document.

After the appraisal meeting

Following the appraisal, you should finalise the appraisal form as soon as possible and share a copy with the individual.

If they disagree with what you've recorded on the form, listen carefully, and try and come to an agreement.

Keep a copy of the form in a confidential file and refer back to it in one-to-ones meetings throughout the year, so you can check in on progress.

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Use this series of pages to help you support your team to maintain and improve their performance at work. Regular one-to-ones and appraisals are key to managing performance effectively. This page shares tips to help you plan and run them well. One-to-one meetings are regular check-ins between a manager an individual they line manage.

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Guide to developing training needs analysis for people in your organisation from NCVO

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Guide to developing training needs analysis for people in your organisation from NCVO

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Have any outstanding volunteers? - put them forward for a free break to recognise what they do

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Have any outstanding volunteers? - put them forward for a free break to recognise what they do

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Commercial recruitment company with a free offer to recruit volunteers  - consider e.g. for trustees 

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Commercial recruitment company with a free offer to recruit volunteers  - consider e.g. for trustees 

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As part of our commitment to non-profit and public sector organisations, we set up a TPP Giving Back programme, offering various additional free services to non-profit organisations.

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Maximise your reach and impact with our free volunteer job advertising service. Connect with passionate candidates and fill your vacancies today.

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Preparing for Emergencies - advice and alert information

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Protect your business from major disruption during an emergency by having a plan, also called business continuity.

Leeds Alert

Get to know about emergency situations that may happen in Leeds. Register with Leeds Alert External link .

An emergency can happen at any time and cost your business money. You should have a plan in place to help during and after an emergency. This is called a business continuity plan.

Business continuity plan

You will need to make your own emergency plan to help deal with major disruptions to your business. Think about:

what your staff will need to do

how to carry on meeting important deadlines

how to tell your customers or community that you cannot provide business as usual

Making a plan

Your emergency plan should:

include risks which could cause major disruption to your business

show who will lead on business continuity

say who makes decisions and who does what

prioritise which parts of your business must be maintained and how

For more information and advice on how to create a plan, see the Business Continuity Institute's website External link .

Getting help with making your plan

We run business continuity meetings two or three times a year at the Civic Hall.

If you are interested in attending, email businesscontinuity@leeds.gov.uk. If you have registered with Leeds Alert you will get an email when a meeting is coming up.

Evacuation

There may be situations where it's not safe to stay in your business premises. Always follow your business evacuation plan.

Sometimes, the emergency services will tell you to evacuate when there's an emergency that affects more than just your business. Find more information on evacuations in Leeds.

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Protect your business from major disruption during an emergency by having a plan, also called business continuity.

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We offer a free, or low-cost, counselling and psychotherapy service for women and girls on low incomes in Leeds.

We work with disadvantaged or marginalised women and girls facing complex health and social situations. We help them to recover from experiences of abuse, violence, neglect, trauma and mental ill health.

PLEASE NOTE: we open and close our waiting list to make sure women don't wait too long for support. We are currently accepting requests for service. Please find out more about requesting a service.

We offer these types of counselling and therapy

What our clients say

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Women's Counselling and Therapy Service offers a free or low cost counselling and therapy service for Leeds women and girls on low incomes.

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The West Yorkshire Mental Health and Wellbing Hub is open to all in third sector organisations

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The West Yorkshire Mental Health and Wellbing Hub is open to all in third sector organisations

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Schwartz Rounds

Schwartz Rounds provide a structured forum where all staff, clinical and non-clinical, come together regularly to discuss the emotional and social aspects of working in healthcare.

The purpose of Rounds is to understand the challenges and rewards that come with providing care, it is not to solve problems or to focus on the clinical aspects of patient care.

Rounds can help people feel more supported in their jobs, allowing them the time and space to reflect on their roles. Evidence shows that staff who attend Rounds feel less stressed and isolated, with increased insight and appreciation for each other's roles. They also help to reduce hierarchies between staff and to focus attention on relational aspects of care.

The underlying premise for Rounds is that the compassion shown by staff can make all the difference to a patient's experience of care, but that in order to provide compassionate care staff must, in turn, feel supported in their work.
West Yorkshire
Our ambition is to have Schwartz Rounds running in each of our places in West Yorkshire, and in as many organisations, large and small, as possible.

Schwartz Rounds are for everyone - if you work in a care home, a voluntary organisation in your community, a GP practice, a hospital or any other organisation that provides health or social care, you can start or take part in a Schwartz Round. We have a central team in each place that can help you with all the resources and training you need to help you and your colleagues get the most from this enriching experience.

No matter what your organisation does, the support and training you get to bring your Schwartz Round to life is free. You don't have to work in frontline care - people in support roles need Schwartz too.
https://youtu.be/_CuxfCNDQ30

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Schwartz Rounds provide a structured forum where all staff, clinical and non-clinical, come together regularly to discuss the emotional and social aspects of working in healthcare. The purpose of Rounds is to understand the challenges and rewards that come with providing care, it is not to solve problems or to focus on the clinical aspects of patient care.

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Our appointments are available in Horsforth, Leeds - although we do offer a limited number of virtual or telephone appointments if required.

Leeds Mind counselling is available to people aged 18 or over. Please note we are not able to work with couples.

Please find our forms for referring yourself to our services in the links below. If you have any queries, please do get in touch with us directly.

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Inclusive Recruitment Guide from the Leeds Inclusive Employer Network

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Inclusive Recruitment Guide from the Leeds Inclusive Employer Network

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Information on inclusion training from the Health and Care Academy

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Information on inclusion training from the Health and Care Academy

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Online resource for organisational leaders to develop organisations

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Online resource for organisational leaders to develop organisations

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Self-Directed Journey Towards OD Mastery

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A curated resource for exploring Organizational Development competence.

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A sample document from a network member to support other organisations. It should be adapted to suit own circumstances where relevant.

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Checking a job applicant’s right to work

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Make sure a job applicant can work in the UK - check they have the right documents and make sure you’re not prosecuted for employing an illegal worker.

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Gender and sexuality- The Genderbread Person

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Gender and sexuality- The Genderbread Person

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Some third sector organisations still follow NJC pay but many now find it not possible to resource this level of pay and use their own pay structure instead

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Some third sector organisations still follow NJC pay but many now find it not possible to resource this level of pay and use their own pay structure instead

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The pay and terms of conditions of employment for over 1.4 million local government services' workers is determined by the National Joint Council (NJC) for Local Government Services.

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Includes the latest updates relating to local government services ('Green Book') and craftworkers, chief executives and chief officers

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See what NCVO have to say about whistleblowing

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See what NCVO have to say about whistleblowing

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© 2021 NCVO (The National Council for Voluntary Organisations), Registered in England as a charitable company limited by guarantee. Society Building, 8 All Saints Street, London N1 9RL. Registered company number 198344 | Registered charity number 225922.

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The mental health website for people in Leeds - includes links to counselling providers

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The mental health website for people in Leeds - includes links to counselling providers

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MindWell is the mental health website for people in Leeds. We can help you find information about support in the city and different ways to take care of your mental wellbeing.

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Guidance on doing difficult conversations

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Guidance on doing difficult conversations

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Reaching a settlement agreement with staff for exit

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Reaching a settlement agreement with staff for exit

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Settlement agreement guidance and templates | Acas

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Settlement agreements guidance and templates. Free to download and use.

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Can't afford a staff pay rise look at staff benefits you might offer instead

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Can't afford a staff pay rise look at staff benefits you might offer instead

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Pay and benefits are important in attracting, retaining and engaging employees. A range of options is available to reward workers and recognise their contribution, each with their own opportunities and risks. The most effective reward packages meets the needs of its people, the business, and the organisation's purpose, culture and performance, in a fair and responsible way.

This factsheet explores the purpose of reward and how employee responses may vary depending on different contexts. It introduces pay structures and levels, considerations surrounding pay awards and factors affecting pay progression. It also describes variable pay and outlines the UK law around pay. Finally, it looks at the role of employee benefits, non-financial rewards and total reward.

Explore our viewpoint on low pay and financial wellbeing and executive pay in more detail, along with actions for government and recommendations for employers.

The term 'reward' generally covers all financial provisions made to employees, including cash pay, and the wider benefits package (such as private medical insurance). It can also include wider provisions for employees, with the term 'total reward' sometimes used to encompass non-pay benefits, such as flexible working opportunities.

Pay may be divided into two categories:

Fixed (or base) pay is a guaranteed cash wage or salary paid to employees for doing their work for a contracted period, such as a 37-hour week. This can include location allowances and other associated guaranteed payments.

Variable pay is not guaranteed. It can include bonus, incentives and overtime payments.

Pay definitions vary. For example, some employers might treat location allowances as part of fixed pay, while others may see it as variable.

Other terms may also be used. 'Compensation' for example is usually taken to mean just pay (both fixed and variable) while 'remuneration' might be used interchangeably with 'reward' to mean the wider benefits package, such as the value of employer pension contributions.

Reward is an area of specialist knowledge in our Profession Map.

A CIPD report shows a clear business case for supporting employees' financial wellbeing: those who experience money worries are more likely to be absent from work. Financial distress can also lead to presenteeism, in which employees still work but, because of health problems or other personal issues, don't perform to their usual standards.

During the cost of living crisis, pay and benefit professionals should consider whether their organisation's reward approach is fit for purpose by exploring such questions as:

What's happening to workplace financial wellbeing?

Are we paying our workers a liveable wage?

Are the organisations in our supply chain paying their workers enough?

If we can't increase pay for our employees by as much as the cost of living, what else can we do to reduce the impact of inflation on earnings?

Can we offer opportunities for low-waged workers to increase their skills and experience so they can take on higher-paid roles?

Should we invest in the HR technology so we can explore whether our people are paid fairly?

Are certain groups of workers, such as female, black, or disabled staff, being affected disproportionately by inflation? If so, what can we do to support them?

What can we do to protect people from financial scams, such as around pensions?

How does our benefits package support employee financial wellbeing?

Should we change how we communicate with employees about pay and benefits?

Are we directing employees needing help to sources of regulated financial information and guidance?

Are we clearly communicating our financial wellbeing policy to employees?

The answers to these and other questions, such as what ways are there to improve employee productivity and reduce our cost base, will help employers to better support their people and reduce the impact of poor financial wellbeing for both organisations and their workers. Our 2022 Reward management survey explores the impact that the rise in the cost of living is having on employee financial wellbeing and in-work poverty. There's lots more on what employers can be doing in our ' Tackling in work poverty hub '.

The main reason for offering pay and benefits is to influence employee behaviour so they want to join and stay with an employer and to do their best in the job. Traditionally, salaries were used to attract people to an organisation, benefits helped retain them, and bonus and incentive schemes motivated them in their work. However, the thinking about which parts of reward are best suited for recruitment, retention and motivation has changed.

Individuals come, stay and perform due to a range of financial and non-financial rewards, which can change over time depending on personal circumstances. In some situations, individuals may not consider the financial elements of a package that important. For instance, people at the beginning of their career may be more interested in gaining access to training and career development. Similarly, individuals may be willing to work for lower pay rates (or even volunteer) if they have a strong attachment to an organisation's purpose.

Employers should find out what attracts, keeps and inspires their current and future people, and explore how best they can meet these needs - as well as meeting the requirements of the business within the appropriate legal and regulatory environment. When creating a reward package, it's also important that organisations integrate the various reward elements so that they support, rather than contradict, one another, such as the factors used to increase pay and give bonuses.

Behavioural science has given us useful insights about how individuals may respond to various aspects of reward. Employers should use the lessons from behavioural science when designing, implementing, and communicating their reward packages. Find out more in our report Show me the money! The behavioural science of reward. Our Employee engagement - definitions, measures and outcomes report also shows the impact reward and recognition practices can have on the level of commitment employees feel to their organisations.

Because there are various elements to reward, it's important to think about the appropriate mix of base to variable pay, fixed to flexible benefits, and financial to non-financial rewards to meet both employer and employee needs.

When making decisions about how to reward and recognise contribution, it's crucial to recognise the people risks involved. Employers operating overseas should also consider whether to set reward centrally or allow each region or subsidiary develop its own approach.

Organisations should establish a reward strategy spelling out the aims of the various reward elements and how they are integrated. Because a reward strategy reflects the organisation's purpose and values, it's critical the organisation explains to staff what behaviours and performances it is rewarding, how, why, and when. This may include employee education, so that staff understand the benefits on offer. It's important to think about the implications for other parts of HR, such as the skills line managers might need so they can communicate effectively about the rewards on offer. Employers also need to have measures and systems in place to assess the impact of their reward strategy on people and performance.

Pay structures

Pay structures provide a framework for valuing jobs and understanding how they relate to one another both within the organisation and to the external labour market.

Pay structures may also need to allow for certain additional elements other than basic pay rates, for example location allowances. Find out more in our pay structures factsheet.

Pay levels

There are several approaches to setting pay levels or ranges for jobs. For example, job evaluation is an important tool for setting pay rates among public sector employers, whereas market pricing can be more influential in the private sector. Where market rates are used, employers need to determine where to pitch in-house rates (for example, at the median or upper quartile). See more in our factsheet on job evaluation and market pricing.

Pay awards

Key factors when setting the overall pay review budget for annual pay increases - which often includes performance-based pay rises as well as general pay structure movement (often known as the annual pay award or cost of living uplift) - include:

ability to pay

inflation

market rate changes

stakeholder perspectives, such as those of customers, employees, or investors.

There are variations by sector. For instance, in the public sector the government's pay policy is key, sometimes together with union pressure, whereas the former is rarely an issue for many private sector companies. Our quarterly Labour Market Outlook reports look at pay forecasts for the coming year.

Pay progression

Individual performance, competency and skills are factors commonly used for moving individuals along salary bands or ranges. Typically, a hybrid approach that bases progression on more than one factor is used. It might involve assessing individual employee's achievements against the backdrop of the wider labour market. Find out more in our factsheet on pay progression.

Many organisations expect 'satisfactory' performers to progress to a target point in their pay range. Among private sector service employers, the target is often the mid-point in the range, while in the public sector it tends to be close to the top of the salary scale. In the voluntary, manufacturing and production sectors, employers tend to be more split on where the target is. Read more in our performance-related pay factsheet.

Variable pay: cash bonuses and incentives

In the private sector, there is widespread use of bonus and incentive awards, either to encourage future performance (incentives) or to recognise past performance (bonuses). Employers often have more than one bonus or incentive scheme with senior staff often treated differently.

Among those offering a performance-related reward scheme, common individual performance-related variable schemes include individual bonuses and sales commission, while profit-sharing and gain-sharing are common group performance-related plans. See more in our factsheet on bonuses and incentives.

The advantage of variable pay schemes is that they can link earnings closely to desired performance and, in theory, only pay out when there is reason to do so. Variable pay does not generally feed through into other elements of remuneration, such as overtime or pension contributions, and so do not create additional on-costs. However, their success depends on several factors, namely how performance goals are set; the type of tasks being encouraged; how fairly employees view the process and outcomes; and the approaches used to allocate rewards, see our report Incentives and recognition: an evidence review for more detail.

In all pay and reward policies, UK employers must meet legal requirements, for example, on equal pay or the National Minimum Wage, as well as reporting on the organisation's gender pay gap and chief executive pay ratio. Find out more in our factsheet on pay fairness and reporting.

The National Minimum Wage applies to all workers aged 16 and over. There are currently four categories covering apprentices, workers aged under 18, those aged 18 to 20, and those aged between 21 and 22. The National Living Wage currently applies to those aged 23 or over, with a target to lower it to age 21 or over by 2024.

While not a legal requirement, almost 12,500 organisations employing over 430,000 workers have signed up to the voluntary Living Wage.

Equal pay is an aspect of sex discrimination law giving the right for men and women to be paid the same for the same, or equivalent, work. However, despite legislation, there are still significant gender pay differences. Large employers must report annually the size of their gender pay gap.

People professionals must be aware of the regulatory background and corporate governance standards when setting rewards for senior employees, including the requirement for large, listed UK businesses to publish and explain their chief executive pay ratios.

We commissioned research examining CEO reward from a behavioural science viewpoint and its impact on the rest of the workforce. Read our reports The power and pitfalls of executive reward: a behavioural perspective and The view from below: what employees really think about their CEO's pay packet.

Our RemCo reform report explores how executive remuneration governance could be improved by broadening the remuneration committee's remit to look at the outcomes of how people are managed, developed, rewarded and recognised. We examine the extent to which employee issues have an impact in this report.

Many employers offer a wide range of benefits, from traditional items such as paid leave and occupational pensions, to newer elements such as paid time off to adopt a pet or set your own pay.

Benefits are provided for a variety of reasons including to match market practice, give some measure of health or disability security, or retain employees. Some benefits are required by law or are tax efficient.

There are various ways of offering benefits. For instance, flexible benefits schemes (also known as 'cafeteria benefits' or 'flex plans') allow employees to vary their benefits package to meet their individual needs.

Other issues to consider include how the benefits offered support the needs of the organisation and its employees, and how to communicate the benefits on offer.

Read more in our employee benefits factsheet.

While pay and benefits are important, and getting them wrong can have adverse consequences, they are not the only rewards that employers should consider. Research shows that non-financial rewards can be just as important. These include:

Good performance management.

Opportunities for personal and career development.

Flexible working.

Being involved in decisions that affect how and when people do their work.

Recognition, such as through an 'employee of the month' award or team-based events.

Reward strategies that mix non-financial provisions with pay and benefits are often known as total reward approaches. Read more in our factsheet on strategic reward and total reward.

This factsheet was last updated by Charles Cotton: Senior Performance and Reward Adviser, CIPD
Charles directs CIPD's research agenda and public policy on performance and reward. He speaks for CIPD at government consultations on topics such as, pensions, retirement, CEO remuneration, low pay and employee tax.

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Introduces the basics of reward, which includes pay and benefits, and outlines the UK legal position.

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An example of a job description template

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An example of a job description template

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Charity Job Descriptions - Hiring People

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Free Charity Job Description sample templates to download to use for job adverts and internal job specifications. Choose from hundreds of formatted example job descriptions featuring key job skills, tasks, duties and responsibilities.

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As charity recruiters, you'll be aware of how important it is to strive for inclusivity in the recruitment process and workplace. However, you may not know where to start when it comes to taking practical steps that can actually help your organisation to be more inclusive and attract a wider pool of diverse and talented candidates. Here, we'll go through four pieces of advice to take on board when writing inclusive job descriptions.

1. Recruit for skills instead of education and experience

You may have heard of the term 'skills-first hiring', which is fast becoming a hot recruitment trend, and for good reason. Put simply, this refers to recruitment that prioritises a candidate's skills (e.g. problem solving, empathy, data literacy), rather than their qualifications and very specific experiences (e.g. a 2:1 undergraduate degree or 3 years' experience working in a similar organisation).

Research from LinkedIn found that 40% of companies now rely on skills to search for and find candidates. And the employers who do this are 60% more likely to make a successful hire than those who don't.

What's more is that years of experience and education are actually pretty poor predictors of job performance. And by having very specific job requirements, you'll put off candidates from other sectors with excellent transferrable skills from applying for your roles.

So how can you make your job descriptions skill-based?

When you're deciding on the criteria for a job role, you need to identify the skills that are actually required to perform it, rather than the experience the ideal candidate may have, or the background that the last person in the role had.

So, for example, when recruiting for a marketing and communications assistant, you may want to advertise for 'the ability to write creatively for a range of channels and adapt the writing style according to the audience' rather than 'at least a year of experience working on marketing campaigns' and 'degree level education in a relevant discipline'.

2. Watch out for non-inclusive language

Ever read a job description and felt that it wasn't right for you, even if it was the sort of role and organisation you were after? It may have been that the language used in the job description put you off.

Writing inclusive job descriptions means avoiding any language that may be gender-coded, age-biased or non-inclusive for neurodivergent candidates.

Gender-coded language

Gender-coded language refers to language that is unconsciously biased towards one gender or another. For example, words like 'competitive' and 'self-reliant' are male-coded and words like 'cooperative' and 'support' are female-coded.

In a research study by Gaucher, Friesen and Kay (2011) male and female participants were shown job adverts with different kinds of gender-coded language. Women rated jobs that had lots of masculine words as less appealing and felt that they belonged less in the role. Furthermore, reported that their job adverts with gender-neutral wording got 42% more applications than those that didn't have gender-neutral wording.

You can use a free gender decoder tool which will tell you the overall tone of your job description and highlight male and female-coded language. Where possible, you should aim to swap gender-coded words with neutral ones.

Age-biased language

The language in your job descriptions might not only be deterring males or females from applying for your roles, it could also be putting off older candidates. Research by the Centre for Ageing Better in 2021 found that older participants rated jobs that included words or phrases like 'technologically savvy', 'fun', 'recent graduate', 'rockstar' and 'dynamic' as off-putting. They were also associated with a lower perceived likelihood of getting an interview or a job offer.

3. Get rid of charity jargon

As well as the type of language you use, it's important to check your job descriptions for unnecessary jargon or acronyms that candidates from other charities, job roles or industries may not be aware of. It's best to use simple, clear language that can be easily understood by anyone.

Tags: diversity and inclusion, diversity in recruitment, equality diversity and inclusion, fairer recruitment, hiring trends, inclusive recruitment

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Inclusivity in the recruitment process is so important. Here are four pieces of advice on how to write inclusive job descriptions.

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Carers Leeds is a charity that provides information, advice and support to unpaid adult and parent carers across our city.

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Carers Leeds is a charity that provides information, advice and support to unpaid adult and parent carers across our city.

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They offer an Advice Line, carers support groups, one to one support and support in hospitals. Some of their services are universal – open to all carers – and some are targeted at specific groups of carers. They are provided to communities throughout Leeds.

Carers Leeds work in partnership with others to deliver our service and to influence them to act to benefit unpaid carers. This involves those working in health and social care and employers.

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It's really important that everyone (internal and external) knows your values. 

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It's really important that everyone (internal and external) knows your values. 

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Values should be developed by people to describe an organisation and everyone involved. Here is an example developed by one third sector HR network member. This is quite detailed others can be shorter if preferred. Being authentic and developing them together is what matters.

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For organisations working within CQC regulated care there is guidance on 'Regulation 18: staffing' 

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For organisations working within CQC regulated care there is guidance on 'Regulation 18: staffing' 

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Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014: Regulation 18

The intention of this regulation is to make sure that providers deploy enough suitably qualified, competent and experienced staff to enable them to meet all other regulatory requirements described in this part of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. To meet the regulation, providers must provide sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff to meet the needs of the people using the service at all times and the other regulatory requirements set out in this part of the above regulations. Staff must receive the support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisals that are necessary for them to carry out their role and responsibilities. They should be supported to obtain further qualifications and provide evidence, where required, to the appropriate regulator to show that they meet the professional standards needed to continue to practise.

CQC cannot prosecute for a breach of this regulation or any of its parts, but we can take regulatory action. See the offence section for more detail.

CQC must refuse registration if providers cannot satisfy us that they can and will continue to comply with this regulation.

The regulation in full

18.-

Guidance

This sets out the guidance providers must have regard to against the relevant component of the regulation.

18(1) Sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced persons must be deployed in order to meet the requirements of this Part.

Guidance on 18(1)

Providers must deploy sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff to make sure that they can meet people's care and treatment needs and therefore meet the requirements of Section 2 of these regulations (the fundamental standards).

Providers should have a systematic approach to determine the number of staff and range of skills required in order to meet the needs of people using the service and keep them safe at all times. The approach they use must reflect current legislation and guidance where it is available. In determining the number of staff and range of skills required to meet people's needs, they should consider the different levels of skills and competence required to meet those needs, the registered professional and support workers needed, supervision needs and leadership requirements.

Staffing levels and skill mix must be reviewed continuously and adapted to respond to the changing needs and circumstances of people using the service.

There should be procedures to follow in an emergency that make sure sufficient and suitable people are deployed to cover both the emergency and the routine work of the service.

18(2) Persons employed by the service provider in the provision of a regulated activity must-

18(2)(a) receive such appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal as is necessary to enable them to carry out the duties they are employed to perform,

Guidance on 18(2)(a)

Providers must ensure that they have an induction programme that prepares staff for their role. It is expected that providers that employ healthcare assistants and social care support workers should follow the Care Certificate standards to make sure new staff are supported, skilled and assessed as competent to carry out their roles.

Training, learning and development needs of individual staff members must be carried out at the start of employment and reviewed at appropriate intervals during the course of employment. Staff must be supported to undertake training, learning and development to enable them to fulfil the requirements of their role.

Where appropriate, staff must be supervised until they can demonstrate required/acceptable levels of competence to carry out their role unsupervised.

Staff should receive appropriate ongoing or periodic supervision in their role to make sure competence is maintained.

Providers must ensure that all staff receive training in how to interact appropriately with people with a learning disability and autistic people, at a level appropriate to their role.

Staff should be supported to make sure they are can participate in:

Statutory training.

Other mandatory training, as defined by the provider for their role.

Any additional training identified as necessary to carry out regulated activities as part of their job duties and, in particular, to maintain necessary skills to meet the needs of the people they care for and support.

Other learning and development opportunities required to enable them to fulfil their role. This includes first aid training for people working in the adult social care sector.

All learning and development and required training completed should be monitored and appropriate action taken quickly when training requirements are not being met.

Staff should receive regular appraisal of their performance in their role from an appropriately skilled and experienced person and any training, learning and development needs should be identified, planned for and supported.

Staff must receive appropriate supervision in their role to ensure they demonstrate and maintain competence in understanding the needs of people with a learning disability and autistic people, including knowing how to support them in the best way.

Health, social and other care professionals must have access to clinical or professional supervision as required, in line with the requirements of the relevant professional regulator.

18(2)(b) be enabled where appropriate to obtain further qualifications appropriate to the work they perform, and

Guidance on 18(2)(b)

Providers must support staff to obtain appropriate further qualifications that would enable them to continue to perform their role.

Providers must not act in a way that prevents or limits staff from obtaining further qualifications that are appropriate to their role.

18(2)(c) where such persons are health care professionals, social workers or other professionals registered with a health care or social care regulator, be enabled to provide evidence to the regulator in question demonstrating, where it is possible to do so, that they continue to meet the professional standards which are a condition of their ability to practise or a requirement of their role.

Guidance on 18(2)(c)

Where registration with a professional body is a requirement of the role, providers must make sure that staff are able to meet the requirements of the relevant professional regulator throughout their employment, such as requirements for continuing professional development.

Staff should be supported to join Accredited Voluntary Registers if they wish. Providers must have appropriate systems in place to support this, such as revalidation and meeting codes of practice.

Providers must not act in a way that prevents, limits or would result in staff not meeting requirements required by professional regulators.

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Our guidance explains how care providers can meet this requirement, which is one of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Its intention is to make sure that providers deploy enough suitably qualified, competent and experienced staff to enable them to meet all other regulatory requirements described in this part of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

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A example of a policy that suits an organisation supporting vulnerable people. The network welcomes more examples that can help new and developing third sector organisations.

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You can also get employment law support from some solicitors in Leeds. We can't make recommendations but  HR network member organisations may be able to report on experiences from those they have used in the past or you can use the link at Leeds Law Society

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You can also get employment law support from some solicitors in Leeds. We can't make recommendations but  HR network member organisations may be able to report on experiences from those they have used in the past or you can use the link at Leeds Law Society

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Find a Solicitor | Public | Support And Advice | Leeds Law Society

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You can find a Solicitor by ringing the National Law Society on 020 7320 5650. Find out more from Leeds Law Society here.

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This is a sample document shared for development purposes

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This is a sample Safer Recruitment Policy shared as many third sector organisations need to take a more rigorous approach to recruitment given the people they support

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A second cloud based HR system provider. No obvious scheme but  reduced fees for charities occasionally available

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A second cloud based HR system provider. No obvious scheme but  reduced fees for charities occasionally available

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Recruiting employees is a lengthy (and often expensive) process - so you want to be sure that you make new starters feel welcome and adjust well to their new roles. Induction processes are vital to ensuring success within your SME, and how you induct new team members says a lot about your company culture. This blog covers what an induction is as well as why onboarding new employees effectively has never been more important.

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Centurion Management Systems Ltd (t/a Breathe)

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Breathe | Software That Puts People First

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Low cost & intuitive cloud-based HR software ideal for growing businesses: Offering many useful features & simple price options - FULL FREE TRIAL

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All employers including those from the third sector can sign up and advertise their vacancies for free via DWP

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All employers including those from the third sector can sign up and advertise their vacancies for free via DWP

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Employers can use the 'Find a job' service to advertise jobs online

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Grief booklets - Cruse Bereavement Support

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Free leaflets for adults to view online or download.

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HR network members own vacancy information

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HR network members own vacancy information

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Webinars for those with disabilities to support use of tech, including at work from Abilitynet

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Webinars for those with disabilities to support use of tech, including at work from Abilitynet

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We run free webinars on a range of topics of relevance to disabled people. Our library of recordings is free to access and contains useful information for disabled people, their colleagues, families, friends and the professionals who support them.

Visit the 'AbilityNet Webinar FAQs' page on our website if you would like to know more about our webinars and what to expect. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified of upcoming webinars. If you recently attended a webinar or watched a webinar recording please give us feedback. Your comments will help us to improve and we also listen to suggestions for future webinar topics.

In response to the Coronavirus emergency we have been running a series of AbilityNet Live online events to help share useful information for disabled people and their carers and employers.

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We run free webinars on a range of topics of relevance to disabled people. Our library of recordings is free to access and contains useful information for disabled people, their colleagues, families, friends and the professionals who support them.

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Ideas for a structure to improve digital skill building for those who find using tech challenging 

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Ideas for a structure to improve digital skill building for those who find using tech challenging 

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Want to join the Forum Central HR network? Open to third sector organisations in Leeds, just email workforce@forumcentral.org.uk

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Want to join the Forum Central HR network? Open to third sector organisations in Leeds, just email workforce@forumcentral.org.uk

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Don’t forget your data protection policy covers HR information on staff too 👍 You might benefit from an IT user policy including use of social media

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Don’t forget your data protection policy covers HR information on staff too 👍 You might benefit from an IT user policy including use of social media

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Forum Central has an Inclusion Working Group. Email hello@forumcentral.org.uk if you want to join 

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Forum Central has an Inclusion Working Group. Email hello@forumcentral.org.uk if you want to join 

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Sign up to HR ninjas at https://www.thehrninjas.co.uk/ then get access to all the Gateway HR template policies for a much reduced price of only £12 for the first year!

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Sign up to HR ninjas at https://www.thehrninjas.co.uk/ then get access to all the Gateway HR template policies for a much reduced price of only £12 for the first year!

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https://www.gatewayhr.com/hr-hub-for-hr-ninjas/ use the code NINJAHUB12

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Need to support one of your staff with counselling or more? Try using a Leeds third sector organisation 

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Need to support one of your staff with counselling or more? Try using a Leeds third sector organisation 

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Phoenix Health and Wellbeing - Massage | Counselling | Acupuncture

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We offer massage, counselling, acupuncture & workplace wellbeing. The services we offer can improve your mental, physical and emotional health & wellbeing.

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Free webinars from ACAS on developing HR practice

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Free webinars from ACAS on developing HR practice

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Acas experts run regular webinars on employment law topics and employment relations.

They're free to join, you just need to register in advance. Spaces are limited.

You can ask our experts questions during the webinar.

You can also find out how we make our webinars accessible.

Sickness absence: supporting your staff

This webinar looks at how employers can effectively manage sickness and the return to work process. It will cover:

Register now for 'Sickness absence: supporting your staff'

Wednesday 15 November 2023, 2pm to 3pm (full)

Thursday 30 November 2023, 10am to 11am (full)

Friday 8 December 2023, 10am to 11am (full)

Winter: supporting your staff

This webinar for employers and HR professionals looks at 4 main topics associated with winter. It will cover:

Register now for 'Winter: supporting your staff'

Tuesday 21 November 2023, 2pm to 3pm (full)

Wednesday 13 December 2023, 2pm to 3pm (full)

Managing a fair disciplinary procedure

For HR professionals and line managers, this webinar covers how to manage a fair disciplinary process. It will cover:

Register now for 'Managing a fair disciplinary procedure'

Wednesday 6 December, 2pm to 3pm (full)

Business support: managing in difficult times

This webinar looks at how employers can support their staff during the cost of living crisis. It will cover:

the challenges employees may be facing

why employee financial wellbeing matters and its effect on mental health

how supporting employees can benefit your organisation

steps employers can take, for example creating a financial wellbeing policy

flexibility and legal considerations

things to consider if employees take a second job

We'll be releasing more dates for this webinar soon.

Investigations and disciplinaries - how to manage and disclose information

This webinar is designed for small and medium-sized businesses. It will cover:

We'll be releasing more dates for this webinar soon.

Disciplinary procedures - dealing with the unexpected

This webinar is designed for small and medium-sized businesses. We'll explore what employers can do when a disciplinary procedure is disrupted. It will cover:

the process of a fair and reasonable disciplinary procedure

what to consider when an employee is off sick during a disciplinary procedure

how to deal with a grievance that's raised during a disciplinary procedure

steps to take when an employee is absent from a disciplinary procedure

We'll be releasing more dates for this webinar soon.

Subscribe for updates

You can get our latest news and events by email, including details of upcoming webinars.
Sign up for email updates

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Acas experts run regular webinars on employment law topics and employment relations. They're free to join, you just need to register in advance. Spaces are limited. You can ask our experts questions during the webinar. You can also find out how we make our webinars accessible.

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Free Mental Health Training from the Health and Care Academy

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Free Mental Health Training from the Health and Care Academy

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Mental Health & Wellbeing Training - Leeds Health and Care Academy

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The Leeds Health and Care Academy is working alongside partners to facilitate a series of Health and Wellbeing initiatives throughout 2023. All of these initiatives are fully-funded, and open to everybody working in the health and care system in Leeds. Read more about the opportunities that you can access below.

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Resources for managing volunteers from Voluntary Action Leeds

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Resources for managing volunteers from Voluntary Action Leeds

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Your browser was unable to load all of Trello's resources. They may have been blocked by your firewall, proxy or browser configuration.
Press Ctrl+F5 or Ctrl+Shift+R to have your browser try again and if that doesn't work, check out our troubleshooting guide .

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Organize anything, together. Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. In one glance, know what's being worked on, who's working on what, and where something is in a process.

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Not sure what to do about sick pay, see the gov.uk employers guide on the minimum requirements 

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Not sure what to do about sick pay, see the gov.uk employers guide on the minimum requirements 

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The weekly rate for Statutory Sick Pay ( SSP) is £109.40 for up to 28 weeks. It is paid:

for the days an employee normally works - called 'qualifying days'

in the same way as wages, for example on the normal payday, deducting tax and National insurance

Use the SSP calculator to work out the actual amount, for example for a daily rate.

Some employment types like agency workers, directors and educational workers have different rules for entitlement. You may still have to pay SSP even if you stop trading.

You cannot force your employees to take annual leave when they're eligible for sick leave.

When to start paying SSP

SSP is paid when the employee is sick for at least 4 days in a row (including non-working days).

You cannot count a day as a sick day if an employee has worked for a minute or more before they go home sick.

If an employee works a shift that ends the day after it started and becomes sick during the shift or after it has finished, the second day will count as a sick day.

You do not pay an employee SSP for the first 3 working days they're off sick unless either:

the period they were away from work started before 25 March 2022 and they were off sick because of coronavirus (COVID-19)

they received SSP within the last 8 weeks, and that already included a 3-day waiting period before you paid them SSP

When to stop paying SSP

SSP stops when the employee comes back to work or no longer qualifies for it.

Record keeping

You do not need to keep records of SSP paid to employees.

You can choose how you keep records of your employees' sickness absence. HMRC may need to see these records if there's a dispute over payment of SSP.

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Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): employer guide

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Employer guide to Statutory Sick Pay - SSP rates, form SSP1, eligibility, fit notes (formerly sick notes), recover statutory pay.

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Support your staff to get hold of event tickets at much reduced prices

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Support your staff to get hold of event tickets at much reduced prices

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The best live events, for the price of a cup of coffee

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Want to know how salaries compare in the third sector?

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Want to know how salaries compare in the third sector?

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Download the CharityJob Salary Report 2023 to find average sector salaries for different specialisms, levels of role and sizes of charity.

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Need HR consultant support? You could try a third sector provider Roots HR CIC. Of course there are lots of other HR consultants available too

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Need HR consultant support? You could try a third sector provider Roots HR CIC. Of course there are lots of other HR consultants available too

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Using profits generated in fy '21-'22 and in-year we are proud to have delivered an HR training programme to 15 social sector line managers; over 4,400 toolkits on topics ranging from recruitment and selection to managing performance and change; webinars to over 270 delegates on topics such as mental wellbeing and menopause and over 68 hours of free HR consultancy. Some feedback from recipients of our pro-bono services includes:

* "Everything is clear and concise - all in one place and you can choose what you exactly need. The guidance given is very good and the team at Roots HR are so helpful. This is such a good thing to have especially for smaller charities that could struggle without these toolkits. Thank you." - Toolkit

"It really covered the core elements for what SME's can do to support Mental Health in the workplace." Webinar: Mental Health at Work.
Read more about our social impact here "

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HR Consultancy Services For The Social Sector | Roots HR

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At Roots HR we specialise in delivering high quality human resources consultancy services for charities and social sector organisations. Talk to our expert HR team today.

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Use Trustees Unlimited to help find trustees too

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Use Trustees Unlimited to help find trustees too

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Thank you for choosing to use Trustees Unlimited to advertise your trustee vacancy.

Organisations get immediate access to the very best and most relevant of our ever-growing pool of candidates. No need to wait for candidates to see your advert and apply, we will match and contact the most relevant candidates the day you post your role.

Please note that the SNAP self service tool is currently designed for charities with a turnover of under £1M.

If your turnover is over £1M please get in touch to see how we can incorporate SNAP into our tailored package.

Get in touch via email: [email protected] or call (0)7384 250 335.

In order to upload your advert, please have the following information to hand:

Charity number

NCVO member no. (if applicable)

Your logo

Your turnover

The region you operate in

Text covering the following areas:

About us

About the role/what we are looking for

Skills required

Closing date

Relevant dates e.g. interview dates, next board meetings etc.

Any other information e.g. contact details if the potential candidate wants to talk about the role

Applications will come through to your account for you to login and review. Most applications will come in on or near the closing date.

Remember, it's your responsibility to contact all applicants to arrange interviews and let them know whether or not they have been successful.
Register organisation

Our commitment to diversity & inclusion

Trustees Unlimited believes that diverse boards strengthen society. We will strive to remove the barriers that prevent people from applying to become trustees and help our clients to recruit and support people with a wide range of skills and lived experience.

Find out more

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Thank you for choosing to use Trustees Unlimited to advertise your trustee vacancy. Organisations get immediate access to the very best and most relevant of ...

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Leeds third sector organisations don’t tend to advertise on NHS jobs but they could

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Leeds third sector organisations don’t tend to advertise on NHS jobs but they could

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Organisations who hold contracts with the NHS, or local authorities that deliver a healthcare service to patients, can advertise their vacancies on NHS Jobs. This might be useful if you are looking for people who are open to leaving the NHS

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If your organisation wants to advertise on the NHS Jobs service, email nhsbsa.nhsjobs@nhsbsa.nhs.uk explaining you want to advertise jobs using the service.

You must include in your email:

organisation name

email address

telephone number

the name of the person responsible for recruitment

when you plan to advertise your next vacancy

if you advertise in Welsh

if you recruit for any other organisations or trusts

the name of any organisations or trusts you recruit for.

Did you find the information you were looking for?

Yes I have found the information I needed.

No I did not find the information I needed.

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Employer - How does my organisation onboard to the new NHS Jobs service? · Customer Self-Service

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If your organisation wants to advertise on the NHS Jobs service, email nhsbsa.nhsjobs@nhsbsa.nhs.uk explaining you want to advertise jobs using the service.

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Apply to be part of the 3 mobile and broadband initiative. They are offering savings to Forum Central members in comparison with their standard rates

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Apply to be part of the 3 mobile and broadband initiative. They are offering savings to Forum Central members in comparison with their standard rates

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Being Employed Leeds is a website that provides easy read and accessible information to people looking for jobs or training to get a job in Leeds.

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Being Employed Leeds is a website that provides easy read and accessible information to people looking for jobs or training to get a job in Leeds.

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Being Employed Leeds is a website that provides easy read and accessible information for people looking for jobs or training to get a job.

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Why we shouldn't be content about diversity within charities

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Why we shouldn't be content about diversity within charities

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What does ethnic diversity really look like in the charity sector?

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Just how ethnically diverse is the charity sector? What are people from BAME backgrounds experiencing when looking for a charity sector job? Find out that and more in our latest diversity article.

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Want to know how salaries compare in the third sector?

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Want to know how salaries compare in the third sector?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Download the CharityJob Salary Report 2023 to find average sector salaries for different specialisms, levels of role and sizes of charity.

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If you need to advertise nationally to recruit then one example of a recruitment website is Charity Jobs but its not the only place to use

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If you need to advertise nationally to recruit then one example of a recruitment website is Charity Jobs but its not the only place to use

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Charity Career Advice

Sign up to our e-newsletter to receive quality career advice that's tailored to the charity sector.

CharityConnect

Join over 20,0000 charity professionals to get insights, share experiences and have your questions answered.

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Work for UK Charities: Find a Career with Meaning | CharityJob

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Discover CharityJob, the only job board specifically created for charity, not for profit, third sector and voluntary jobs in the UK. Browse our range of charity jobs.

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The most cost effective, secure, cloud based intranet and people management system we've found and its from and for the third sector

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The most cost effective, secure, cloud based intranet and people management system we've found and its from and for the third sector

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Not connected with twitter either!

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Three Rings is a secure, online volunteer management system, designed to let volunteers give their time to the causes they care about without the hassle.

It's simple to use, and works on everything from desktops to laptops, tablets and smartphones - with nothing to install.

Three Rings is available to charities and third sector organisations. It's built and maintained by Three Rings CIC, a not-for-profit organisation, run entirely by volunteers since 2002. Our aim is to provide high-quality software at a low cost, so you can better forcus your charity's time and resources on achieving your core mission.

Our volunteer management software

Three Rings offers a broad suite of tools to help streamline the process of volunteer and organisation management, and it's built to be both user-friendly and flexible. We can't showcase everything the system can do here, but here are some of our core features:

Want to know more?

Read our values

As a team of volunteers ourselves, our core values are secure, user-friendly ethical and volunteer-focused. Check out our values page, to learn what makes Three Rings special.
Read our values

Get an account

Want to use Three Rings at your organisation? Learn more about who can use Three Rings, our pricing structure, and how to get your organisation up and running with our system.
Get an account

Join our team

Like what we do, and want to be part of it? Learn more what roles and current vacancies are available, and how you could support the hundreds of organisations already benefitting from Three Rings.

Join our team

Still have questions?

Have something else you'd like to talk to us about? Get in touch!
Contact us

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Three Rings is a secure, online volunteer management system, designed to let volunteers give their time to the causes they care about without the hassle. It's simple to use, and works on everything from desktops to laptops, tablets and smartphones - with nothing to install. Three Rings is available to charities and third sector organisations.

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Working safely with display screen equipment

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Working safely with display screen equipment

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1. Overview

As an employer, you must protect your workers from the health risks of working with display screen equipment (DSE), such as PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations apply to workers who use DSE daily, for an hour or more at a time. We describe these workers as 'DSE users'. The regulations don't apply to workers who use DSE infrequently or only use it for a short time.

How to protect workers' health

In law, employers must:

Incorrect use of DSE or poorly designed workstations or work environments can lead to pain in necks, shoulders, backs, arms, wrists and hands as well as fatigue and eye strain. The causes may not always be obvious.

The law applies if users are, for example:

at a fixed workstation

mobile workers

home workers

hot-desking (workers should carry out a basic risk assessment if they change desks regularly)

More DSE guidance

HSE's leaflet Working with display screen equipment gives more information about how to comply with the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations.

You can find detailed advice on the regulations in Work with display screen equipment.

Advice on using DSE if you're pregnant or have epilepsy is available.

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Working safely with display screen equipment

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As an employer, you must protect your workers from the health risks of working with display screen equipment (DSE), such as PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones. The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations apply to workers who use DSE daily, for an hour or more at a time.

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1. Overview

As an employer, you must protect your workers from the risk of injury from hazardous manual handling in the workplace. Manual handling means transporting or supporting a load by hand or bodily force. It includes lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving loads. A load can be an object, person or animal.

The law sets out how employers must deal with risks from manual handling:

avoid hazardous manual handling, so far as reasonably practicable

assess the risk of injury from any hazardous manual handling operations that cannot be avoided

reduce the risk of injury from hazardous manual handling to as low as reasonably practicable

The weight of a load is important, though the law does not set specific weight limits.

In some cases, you must provide information about the weight and position of the centre of gravity of each load, if there is a risk of injury and it is reasonably practicable to do this.

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As an employer, you must protect your workers from the risk of injury from hazardous manual handling in the workplace. Manual handling means transporting or supporting a load by hand or bodily force. It includes lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving loads. A load can be an object, person or animal.

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Most fires are preventable. Those responsible for workplaces and other buildings to which the public have access can avoid them by taking responsibility for and adopting the right behaviours and procedures.

This page provides general advice on fire safety. We have separate guidance on substances that cause fire and explosion.

General fire safety hazards

Fires need 3 things to start:

a source of ignition (heat)

a source of fuel (something that burns)

oxygen

Sources of ignition include:

heaters

lighting

naked flames

electrical equipment

smokers' materials (such as cigarettes, matches)

anything else that can get very hot or cause sparks

Sources of fuel include:

wood

paper

plastic

rubber or foam

loose packaging materials

waste rubbish

furniture

Sources of oxygen include the air around us.

What you have to do

Employers (and/or building owners or occupiers) must carry out a fire safety risk assessment and keep it up to date. This shares the same approach as health and safety risk assessments and can be carried out either as part of an overall risk assessment or as a separate exercise.

Based on the findings of the assessment, employers need to ensure that adequate and appropriate fire safety measures are in place to minimise the risk of injury or loss of life in the event of a fire. Remember to review and update your risk assessment regularly.

To help prevent fire in the workplace, your risk assessment should identify what could cause a fire to start, such as sources of ignition (heat or sparks) and substances that burn, and the people who may be at risk. Once you have identified the risks, you can take appropriate action to control them. Consider whether you can avoid them altogether or, if this is not possible, how you can reduce the risks and manage them:

keep sources of ignition and flammable substances apart

avoid accidental fires, for example make sure heaters cannot be knocked over

ensure good housekeeping at all times, for example avoid build-up of rubbish that could burn

Also consider how you will protect people if there is a fire:

Consider how to detect fires and how to warn people quickly if they start, for example, installing smoke alarms and fire alarms or bells

Have the correct fire-fighting equipment for putting a fire out quickly

Keep fire exits and escape routes clearly marked and unobstructed at all times

Ensure your workers receive appropriate training on procedures they need to follow, including fire drills

More information can also be found on GOV.UK: Fire safety in the workplace: Who's responsible.

Example

Packing waste

The law

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order covers general fire safety in England and Wales.

In Scotland, requirements on general fire safety are covered in Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act, supported by the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations.

In the majority of premises, local fire and rescue authorities are responsible for enforcing this fire safety legislation. HSE has enforcement responsibility on construction sites and on ships under construction or undergoing repair.

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General advice on fire safety and guidance on substances that cause fire and explosion

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Lone working basics from the Health and Safety Executive

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Lone working basics from the Health and Safety Executive

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As an employer, you must manage any health and safety risks before people can work alone.

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Payroll services are available from Voluntary Action Leeds

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Payroll services are available from Voluntary Action Leeds

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Find what you are looking for

VAL YOU offers expertise and practical support to organisations

Any profits we make then go back into our charity work of supporting good causes in Leeds

Payroll

We calculate your payroll based on your instructions, then you make one monthly payment to us and we pay all of your employees, HMRC, pension providers etc. on your behalf.

Marketing

Our experienced team offers a range of competitively priced marketing and communications services to any organisation needing additional support, whether you're in the third sector, public sector, or a private business.

Recruitment

Take the headache out of recruiting, we offer a full recruitment administration service aimed at smaller organisations and groups to manage the whole process from start to finish.

Room Hire

Event Management

Our Associates

Social Franchising
Visit the VAL YOU website for more details and to enquire about each of these services, or simply contact 0113 297 7920

We'd love you to join our E-newsletter

Get news and opportunities straight to your inbox

"*" indicates required fields

You can follow us on social media too

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Services VAL can help with - Doing Good Leeds

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Find what you are looking for We calculate your payroll based on your instructions, then you make one monthly payment to us and we pay all of your employees, HMRC, pension providers etc. on your behalf.

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Advice on holiday rights, sickness and other absences from work, and maternity, paternity and adoption leave.

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Homepage | Leeds Safeguarding Children Partnership

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Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)

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Accredited training, consultancy, research and resources for the social care and health sectors from independent charity and improvement agency, the Social Care Institute for Excellence.

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This is an example of a cloud based HR system from a large provider, there are a good number of other providers just search

# data[].attributes.subject
This is an example of a cloud based HR system from a large provider, there are a good number of other providers just search

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HR Software For SMEs | Human Resources Software

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Meet the most popular HR software and support service for SMEs. With HR advice, staff wellbeing and even a clocking in app, discover how BrightHR saves you time, money & effort now.

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Sign up to Adult Social Care Workforce Data to become eligible for the Workforce Development Fund

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Sign up to Adult Social Care Workforce Data to become eligible for the Workforce Development Fund

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We provide intelligence and robust data to help empower you to make plans for change based on hard facts. Find out more about our data and intelligence.

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The Workforce Development Fund from Skills for Care

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The Workforce Development Fund from Skills for Care

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Provides support for training costs for eligible organisations via local partners such as Leeds City Council

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Apply to claim back money towards the costs of workers completing adult social care qualifications, learning programmes and digital learning modules. If you’re an adult social care employer in England you can claim the Workforce Development Fund towards the costs of your employees development.

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Our strategy shows how Leeds will be a healthy and caring city for all ages, where people who are the poorest improve their health the fastest.

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This includes Leeds Digital Strategy

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The Inclusive Growth Leeds website. Working towards making a healthier, greener and more inclusive economy.

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A groundbreaking collaboration across Leeds for innovative learning and development for all staff in health and care in the city.

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Skills for Health is a not-for-profit organisation committed to the development of an improved and sustainable healthcare workforce across the UK.

Who we are

Overcoming the barriers to better healthcare provision

For nearly 20 years we've helped hundreds of NHS Trusts, independent and private healthcare providers, community and voluntary healthcare organisations, and so many more to solve local and national workforce challenges.

Significantly improve investment in healthcare education and training

Cut patient waiting times (for example from 2 years to just 4 weeks)

Improve staff retention and reduce staff turnover by 50% in some cases

Release workforce savings from £50k to £10m+

Create new roles aligned to national standards in as little as 8 weeks

What we can help you with

Latest from the frontline

Bringing you the latest insights, news and resources from the health sector's leading experts, commissioners, researchers, and workforce specialists.

Let's say "Thank You" to our healthcare support workforce #OurHealthHeroes

Helping to plan and deliver high quality, cost effective and efficient services

Here at Skills for Health, our expert services, solutions, frameworks, and tools have been developed by sector-leading specialists.

Workforce planning and development

We work with national NHS bodies, NHS Trusts and healthcare organisations who turn to us as a trusted partner for specific workforce planning solutions. Our health-tailored workforce development experts and researchers will help you identify, understand, and achieve the change you need.
Our integrated workforce solutions Expert Leadership & OD Consultation

Medical eRostering

In healthcare organisations of every size it's vitally important that the right people are in the right place at the right time. Ensuring safe staff levels are maintained at all times is key to delivering high-quality patient care, at a cost that is right for you. Realtime Rostering is a perfectly suited addition for healthcare organisations to roster their entire workforce, efficiently and cost-effectively.
eRostering for the NHS and beyond Doctors Rostering System (DRS)

Trusted to deliver

As the Sector Skills Council for Health and a leading not-for-profit, our customers trust us to invest their money wisely. By working with us, our customers are making their own commitment to the development of a sustainable and improved healthcare workforce for the future. Discover our recent work below.

Help us improve our solutions & free resources

We actively listen to feedback from customers and users of our website & free resources. Each year, we ask you to take part in a short 4-minute survey to find out what matters to you most, and how we can continually meet your needs by improving & adapting our library of frameworks, insights, and resources.
Take part

National workforce research

Through our research division, we work directly with employers and national bodies to understand and evaluate healthcare workforce trends, aligned to public health issues. We also conduct our own research projects, aligned to national healthcare challenges ( including Covid-19 research).

Apprenticeship support

With 20 years' experience in healthcare workforce development, research, funding, and role design, we help employers navigate through complex changes to apprenticeships to help grow their own workforce and meet government apprenticeship targets.

Leadership, management & OD

Our expert leadership and OD team support NHS and healthcare organisations to develop robust leadership programmes, working either with individuals, teams, or entire organisations to combat change management issues. We align our methodologies and practice to real healthcare issues and guidance such as the NHS People Plan 2020.

The Care Certificate

The Care Certificate is an identified set of standards that health and social care workers adhere to in their daily working life. Designed with the non-regulated workforce in mind, the Care Certificate gives everyone the confidence that workers have the same introductory skills, knowledge and behaviours to provide compassionate, safe and high quality care and support.

Healthcare Quality Mark: Training Assurance

In health and care it's vital that training processes meet rigorous, compliant standards and that staff have the skills and knowledge they need to do their jobs to the highest possible quality. The Skills for Health Quality Mark kitemark gives you the reassurance needed that training has been robustly assessed to meet your exacting needs.

Organisational Diagnostic Tool - Ambit

Ambit is our organisational diagnostic tool for OD and HR professionals that helps you assess, measure, benchmark and improve how your workplace is performing against essential aspects of organisational life. With three levels of analysis, you can choose the level of reporting that suits your organisational strategy and needs.

Our Health Heroes Awards

We believe that every person in the health sector and NHS deserves a voice. That's why, for five years we've been advocating the recognition of the entire workforce, of which over 40% is made up of support roles. We've been celebrating individuals and teams often seen as working 'behind the scenes' since 2016 with key partners to deliver the national Our Health Heroes Awards.

Keep in the loop

You'll find a wealth of information right here on our website, but why not sign up to receive real-time updates? We'll keep you up to speed with national healthcare frameworks, new product launches, upcoming events, and much more - straight to your inbox.

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Better skills, better jobs and better health - Skills for Health Sector Council

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Skills for Health is a not-for-profit organisation committed to the development of an improved and sustainable healthcare workforce across the UK. Who we are For nearly 20 years we've helped hundreds of NHS Trusts, independent and private healthcare providers, community and voluntary healthcare organisations, and so many more to solve local and national workforce challenges.

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Latest from Skills for Care

Recruiting the right people

This September, we're shining our spotlight on how you can #RecruitRight in social care. We'll be sharing information, resources and practical tips to support you in finding and keeping the best people, with the right values, to provide high-quality care to the people you support, now and in the future.

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Skills for Care helps create a well-led, skilled and valued adult social care workforce. Our practical tools and support help organisations and individual employers in England recruit, develop and lead their staff, retaining them from entry level right through to senior leadership and management roles.

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The menopause is a natural stage of life and yet it remains a taboo subject in many workplaces. People experiencing menopausal symptoms require the same support and understanding from their employer as anyone experiencing any ongoing health condition.

Discover our resources on supporting employees experiencing the menopause.

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Help us break the stigma so that people of all ages can achieve their true potential at work

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Want support to recruit a talented graduate with a goal of working in the third sector 

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Want support to recruit a talented graduate with a goal of working in the third sector 

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As a Charityworks Trainee you will spend one year on the Charityworks Programme. During that year you will undertake a full time placement in one of the Charityworks partner organisations. Your role within the host charity or housing association will vary depending on the nature of placement you will be undertaking. You will be supported through the programme and placement by your peers, a mentor, and the Charityworks Programme Team.

Job Details

Job Title: Charityworks Trainee

Salary: The salary for the 2023/24 programme will meet the Living Wage (as set by the Living Wage Foundation). For reference, the salary last year was £21,255 (UK-wide) and £23,302.50 for London-based placements.

Employer: One of our Charityworks partner organisations.

Location: Placements will take place in organisations across a number of locations across the UK.

Hours: Usually 9am - 5pm with some flexibility according to the requirements of the placement and your host organisation.

Contract: Fixed term, 12 months commencing from Autumn 2023.

Job Overview

Charityworks placements vary so much that it is hard to provide a universal job description, but many of the circumstances, opportunities and challenges you will encounter over the course of the year will be common across your class.

As with any new job the more you put in the more you will get out. You will be expected to join a new organisation and hit the ground running, to build trust and relationships quickly and to start contributing to the organisation immediately. If you are willing to use your initiative, think creatively about your work, and communicate effectively, you will put yourself in a strong position to take on interesting projects and more responsibility as you progress through the year.

Regardless of where you are placed or what your role involves during your time on the programme, you will face similar challenges as you go through the year. As with all jobs, there will be a balance between work you find fascinating and work you find less interesting, and we expect you to adjust to that balance. We don't expect all placements to be perfect from the beginning, but we do expect you to be resilient and to communicate well with the Charityworks team, your placement supervisor, and your mentor to make the placement work for you and to maximise your effectiveness for the charity and its beneficiaries.

The Charityworks programme requires you to balance a demanding full-time job with additional learning commitments across the rest of the programme (such as monthly peer cohort days, conferences, personal development planning, impact research assignments and mentoring sessions). The people who get the most out of Charityworks are always those that make the most of the opportunities the programme makes available. We are looking for people who want to take responsibility for their own learning and development, who want to work hard to make the most out of the opportunity.

Duties & Responsibilities

Deliver a specified role within one of our partner organisations. Carry out your responsibilities as outlined in your job description and work plan to the best of your abilities, and in agreement with your Placement Supervisor.

Engage positively with all aspects of the Charityworks leadership development programme - attend and engage in all cohort sessions and conferences, proactively engage with your mentor and deliver impact research assignments to a high standard.

Respond to all communications from Charityworks in a timely and professional manner, meeting deadlines and responding to all feedback and evaluation requests.

Take responsibility for keeping Charityworks informed regarding your placement, and your own professional development.

Learn about your placement organisation by connecting with colleagues, teams and familiarising yourself with your organisation's mission, cause and strategy.

Provide support and challenge to your graduate trainee peers on the Charityworks programme and commit to developing a positive peer group.

Build relationships within and beyond your placement organisation and expand your professional horizons.

Be an ambassador for Charityworks by being a positive role model to other graduate trainees and future applicants and demonstrating our values, culture and standards when working on placement at our partner organisations.

This list of responsibilities is not necessarily an exhaustive list of duties and will be supplemented by a role description relevant to your individual placement.

Wh o will I be working for?

Charityworks operates through a collaborative network of non-profit organisations and as such our placements exist within charities and housing associations across the UK. All of our partner organisations share a common desire to attract more talent and generate more social impact. To see a list of the types of organisations you might be placed with through Charityworks please visit the Network page of our website for a list of current and past partners. Click here.

What type of roles are there?

Charityworks places Trainees into existing jobs across a range of organisations, and as such, the roles are highly diverse. However, some examples of some of the common roles are as follows:
Business development and fundraising

Supporting existing streams of income that support your organisation

Developing new business opportunities that can help to maximise the organisation's income or profile

Organising, delivering and evaluating fundraising events

Researching, securing and maximizing income from trusts, lottery and statutory sources

Writing funding bids

Database management

Communication and campaigns

Developing and delivering campaigns to members of the public, opinion formers, politicians and the media.

Raising the charity's profile by planning and delivering external communications to key audiences

Managing communication products - such as members' newsletters, annual report, Facebook, Twitter

Helping to promote and raise awareness of your charity cause through press and PR, media coverage newsletters, magazines, case studies, promotional materials and other communications

Human Resources and Internal Communications

Assisting in developing, implementing and maintaining HR policies and procedures to ensure the consistent management of staff throughout the organisation

Responding to enquiries from internal and external customers

Delivering and evaluating internal communications strategies to ensure employee engagement

Developing, managing and attending training courses.

Research and Policy

Conducting original and desk-based research and summarizing it in research reports

Conducting quantitative and qualitative analysis on the available data

Preparing briefing documents and public positioning statements on key policy issues

Preparing responses to government consultations.

Analysing information confidently and effectively.

Frontline and customer facing

Supporting teams delivering frontline services

Managing sessional workers or volunteers

Identifying unmet needs within existing service provision

Working directly with service users

Reporting to commissioners

Technology and finance*

Managing systems in IT and technology

Coding and application design & management

Finance management and accountancy

Investment analysis, portfolio management

*If you have a degree in IT or Finance, and are looking to take up a role in one of these areas on the programme, you'll qualify for an accelerated application. To find out more click here.

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The Charityworks Programme - Charityworks

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Job Title: Charityworks Trainee Salary: The salary for the 2023/24 programme will meet the Living Wage (as set by the Living Wage Foundation). For reference, the salary last year was £21,255 (UK-wide) and £23,302.50 for London-based placements. Employer: One of our Charityworks partner organisations.